The rising concern about climate change and other challenges faced by the planet led society to look for different design solutions and approaches towards a more balanced relationship between the built and natural environment. The circular economy is an effective alternative to the linear economic model inspired by natural metabolisms and the circular use of resources. This research explores how innovative strategies can be integrated for evaluating local urban and industrial wastes into sustainable building materials. A literature review is conducted focusing on circular design strategies, re-use, recycle, and waste transformation processes. Then, a methodology for the selection of upcycled and re-used building materials is developed based on Ashby’s method. A total of thirty-five types of partition walls, which include plastic, wood, paper, steel, aluminium, and agricultural wastes, are evaluated using a multi-criteria decision aid (M-MACBETH). Among these solutions, ten types of walls show high-performance thermal and sound isolation, fourteen types are effective for coating, and two exhibit structural reliability. Regardless of their functional limitations, the proposed solutions based on waste materials bear great potential within the construction industry.

This article briefly discusses the seismic-resistant heritage of the 18th century, circumscribed in Lisbon’s Baixa Pombalina (post 1755) and case baraccate of Southern Italy (post 1783). A comparison of these anti-seismic systems is discussed through the architectural principles and the mechanical behavior. It is shown that, despite the wide diversity of cases and the different geo-historical conditioning, both systems arise from an intuition of the compound seismic efficiency, the typical pragmatism of the enlightenment period and an interpretation of the classic composition code. Two specific case studies, a private building in Baixa Pombalina (Lisbon) and the Bishop’s Palace of Mileto (Calabria region) are compared. We briefly analyze: (i) configuration and structural principles; (ii) characteristics of the materials; and (iii) seismic behavior. A standardized spatial morphology closely linked to traditional construction techniques positively determines the seismic response and it is one of the key common factors in this heritage to be preserved. In both cases, the architectural and structural choices are crucial to the seismic response of the building and must be respected as an identity of a specific technical knowledge. Moreover, this materiality represents a historical continuity of the community’s memory that requires transdisciplinary, critical understanding, and preservation.

Timber-framing is the most common mixed construction technique utilised by Romans and many other builders throughout history. However, archaeological evidence is scarce due to the overlapping urban land use and the perishability of the wooden skeleton. This paper focuses on timber frame wall — opus craticium — from Herculaneum, examined through a literature review and on-site analysis. The aim of this research is shedding light on the reasons for the diffusion of opus craticium through a critical analysis of Vesuvian archaeological evidence, among which the best-known is Casa a Graticcio (Insula III, 13–15, Herculaneum). The dichotomy between the written transmission of this technique and the construction practice in the Augustan epoch is also discussed. It is shown how the pervasiveness of this technique in Herculaneum arises from multiple reasons: firstly, the strong demand of new constructions and the need of heavy repairs during the Augustan Principate. Additionally, the anaerobic conditions resulting from the specific on-site burial in 79 AD allowed the conservation of the timber-framing.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to test the effectiveness of integrating Grasshopper 3D and measuring attractiveness by a categorical based evaluation technique (M-MACBETH) for building energy simulation analysis within a virtual environment. Set of energy retrofitting solutions is evaluated against performance-based criteria (energy consumption, weight and carbon footprint), and considering the preservation of the cultural value of the building, its architectural and spatial configuration.Design/methodology/approach: This research addresses the building energy performance analysis before and after the design of retrofitting solutions in extreme climate environments (2030–2100). The proposed model integrates data obtained from an advanced parametric tool (Grasshopper) and a multi-criteria decision analysis (M-MACBETH) to score different energy retrofitting solutions against energy consumption, weight, carbon footprint and impact on architectural configuration. The proposed model is tested for predicting the performance of a traditional timber-framed dwelling in a historic parish in Lisbon. The performance of distinct solutions is compared in digitally simulated climate conditions (design scenarios) considering different criteria weights.Findings: This study shows the importance of conducting building energy simulation linking physical and digital environments and then, identifying a set of evaluation criteria in the analysed context. Architects, environmental engineers and urban planners should use computational environment in the development design phase to identify design solutions and compare their expected impact on the building configuration and performance-based behaviour.Research limitations/implications: The unavailability of local weather data (EnergyPlus Weather File (EPW) file), the high time-resource effort, and the number/type of the energy retrofit measures tested in this research limit the scope of this study. In energy simulation procedures, the baseline generally covers a period of thirty, ten or five years. In this research, due to the fact that weather data is unavailable in the format required in the simulation process (.EPW file), the input data in the baseline is the average climatic data from EnergyPlus (2022). Additionally, this workflow is time-consuming due to the low interoperability of the software. Grasshopper requires a high-skilled analyst to obtain accurate results. To calculate the values for the energy consumption, i.e. the values of energy per day of simulation, all the values given per hour are manually summed. The values of weight are obtained by calculating the amount of material required (whose dimensions are provided by Grasshopper), while the amount of carbon footprint is calculated per kg of material. Then this set of data is introduced into M-MACBETH. Another relevant limitation is related to the techniques proposed for retrofitting this case study, all based on wood-fibre boards.Practical implications: The proposed method for energy simulation and climate change adaptation can be applied to other historic buildings considering different evaluation criteria and context-based priorities.Social implications: Context-based adaptation measures of the built environment are necessary for the coming years due to the projected extreme temperature changes following the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. Built environments include historical sites that represent irreplaceable cultural legacies and factors of the community's identity to be preserved over time.Originality/value: This study shows the importance of conducting building energy simulation using physical and digital environments. Computational environment should be used during the development design phase by architects, engineers and urban planners to rank design solutions against a set of performance criteria and compare the expected impact on the building configuration and performance-based behaviour. This study integrates Grasshopper 3D and M-MACBETH.

This study undertakes sentiment analysis of online reviews of public exterior spaces – historic squares and railway stations – in popular destinations in Italy, with the aim of offering new perspectives of community engagement in urban design analysis. The experience of walking through urban spaces in Italian heritage cities is evaluated under indicators of place quality and connectivity, i.e., aesthetic perception, social interaction, body mobility, facilities and amenities, sense of safety, and destination loyalty. Such advanced analysis can reshape the way we interpret the thoughts and emotions of wider communities so that these are included in local place-focused development strategies.